"Scott has, to be sure, run out to the other end of the teeter-totter. The truth is, as it often is, in the middle."

Hmm, interesting possiblity, but I don't thnk it's true.

Two buttheads calling each other buttheads may confirm both are buttheads, but not sure how this indicates anything about the truth of anything.
The truth is storms can have awesome power. It would take clever designing for structures and people to be safe, particularly on the coast when you get storm surges of 25-30' high, and have hurricance spewing several tornados in addition to high winds and torrental rains.

The simpliest solution is evacuation when storms are severe. But anyone who drives knows that even when a small percentage people on the roads at same time you get traffic jams. And all you need for heavy traffic to turn into parking lot is a relatively small distraction for the motorists- nevermind a fender bender or someone getting a flat tire or something more serious. The fundemental problem regarding evacuation is not something unique to special circumstance, rather the traffic congestion is a everyday problem costing billions dollars a day [on a national scale]. If you solved "normal" traffic congestion then the added congestion from an emergency could be far less a problem.
Now, the seemingly miracle of the evacuation most New Orleans inhabitants was lost by the mistake of having some of it's citizens unable to get out of the city. *Apparently* some people did something right in that regard, but this of course is valueless in comparison to focusing what went wrong.

Non simple solutions to the problem are numerous. We need more roads, we need better roads and cheaper to build roads. Houses and infrastructure could zoned and built specificly for areas which are in potential flood zones or along beaches. For example in beach area around LA, there is never enough parking area for cars. If you had zoning which required living area to be elevated and structure built to withstand an ocean surge effect, you would get more building garages and less damage from flooding. With New Orleans you require that no living area be below sea level- so no new building will be built with living area below sea level. Next you build areas which are safe for people to evacuate to- like superdome, but it's specifically designed for this purpose- in other words you have dual use facilities- a sport arena or a shopping mall which is designed to withstand cat 5 hurricanes, earthquakes, nuclear attack, ect.